With the New York Jets effectively in offseason mode before Thanksgiving, the team has seemingly turned its attention toward finding the man who will run the Xs-and-Os next year and beyond. Interestingly, recent rumbles have suggested that the Jets may look to their past to find the man they believe can lead them to the promised land in the future.
Should the Jets seriously consider a Rex Ryan reunion?
A lot of the smoke around Rex Ryan returning to the Jets has come from Ryan himself. The bombastic coach-turned-ESPN analyst did preside over the most recent era of successful New York Jets football, leading the team to back-to-back AFC Championships in 2009 and 2010.
The longtime defensive coordinator certainly believes that he could motivate a talented-on-paper roster that has been stuck in a malaise this season under both Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich. While it is important to remember Ryan’s boastful bravado worked for a period with a veteran-laden roster up to a point, once the cracks began to form in the foundation, everything came crashing down.
During his six-year run with the Jets, Ryan compiled a record of 46-50, good for a .479 winning percentage. However, the last memory of Rex at the helm that most fans have was him presiding over a disastrous 4-12 season where his bluster and bravado devolved into something resembling a circus act.
Would Ryan’s coaching style be effective in 2025?
More importantly, on the football field, it’s questionable as to whether or not his strategies can still be effective. Once hailed as a defensive genius, Ryan’s aggressive blitzing style and heavy reliance on man coverage may have worked fifteen years ago, but now with the evolution of the passing game and subsequent rule changes, it’s unclear if such an extreme style could still work.
Furthermore, the schematic deviation of his defense from the blitz-averse and zone-heavy personnel the Jets currently employ would be an awkward fit and neutralize some of the best players on that side of the ball.
Offensively, his ground-and-pound style would not fly in the modern NFL with opponents’ high-flying offenses being able to run up the score to a point where that attack would be neutralized. Rex also never showed much ability in developing a young quarterback, something that would be important for the team going forward.
Bottom line, this is mostly smoke coming from a man who wants to re-live his glory days grabbing back page headlines and being the top dog on a coaching staff again.
Eric Mangini might be a sensible option
Ryan’s predecessor, Eric Mangini, has also publicly stated that he wouldn’t be opposed to being at the helm of Gang Green again. The idea of “Mangenius” returning to the Meadowlands was first floated by The Athletic’s Diana Russini and picked up enough steam for Mangini to react to it.
While the former Bill Belichick disciple only lasted three seasons in Green and White, one could argue that his tenure is more about what could have been rather than what was. With a 23-25 record, generating a .479 winning percentage which is identical to Ryan’s, Mangini was one of the major architects of the roster that Rex ultimately took to back-to-back AFC Championship games.
Mangini’s final season with the Jets ended with the team going 9-7, missing the playoffs. But what is sometimes forgotten is that the team got off to an 8-3 start with a high point coming in Week 12 as the Jets walloped the 10-0 Tennessee Titans showing everyone that the overtime win the previous week against the rival Patriots was no fluke and the Jets were true contenders in the AFC.
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After that peak, it all came crashing down. The Jets finished the year 1-4, largely due to a controversial injury suffered by another former Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame quarterback who was brought in in his twilight years to be the franchise savior.
Mangini never got the opportunity to clean up the Favre mess though he might get a chance to clean up the Rodgers’ one. One has to wonder if the more measured and reserved Mangini was allowed to continue if he would’ve eclipsed Ryan’s success. If he had the opportunity to lead the roster he had spent the two seasons prior to the 2008 season building, could he have squeezed out even more than Ryan?
While he might not be a likely option, the Jets are considering any and all possibilities, and with Mangini, there’s always that question of what could have been. While we’ll never know what he could have done with the last successful iteration of the New York Jets, maybe he’s the present-day’s best option to right the ship for what is a talented yet flawed team.
